The Cotswolds in December

December in the Cotswolds is short days, light trails and one of the quietest weeks of the year. On the wolds the average high is 6.8°C and the low just above freezing, with rain on 13 days and about two hours of sun a day, by the Met Office's averages for Little Rissington (opens in a new tab). Around the shortest day the sun rises after 8am and sets just before 4pm, so a walk needs an early start. The first three weeks are Christmas shopping and light trails, busy on the weekend evenings and quiet by day. The week between Christmas and New Year is one of the quietest of the year in the famous villages, when they belong to the people who live in them and the pubs fill with walkers. A hard frost on the wolds gives the best light of the year.

The Christmas season itself, its light trails, markets, carols, Father Christmas and Boxing Day customs, is in our guide to Christmas in the Cotswolds. This page is the rest of the month: the weather, what is open, where to walk and how the holidays change the place.

What is in season in December

December is frost, bare trees and holly. With the leaves down, the views from the escarpment are at their clearest on a cold still day, and the stone of the villages looks its warmest in the low sun, which never climbs far all month.

The farm shops and farmers' markets are at their fullest in the run-up to Christmas: Stow's farmers' market holds only its second-Thursday market in December, and Cirencester's farmers' market runs alongside the town's Christmas gift markets in the days before Christmas.

What is on in December

December's events are almost all Christmas, and our Christmas guide has them in full. The rule for each is that it books by date and time, the weekend evenings go first, and weekdays have space.

The three light trails run through the month: Christmas at Blenheim Palace into the first days of January, Christmas at Westonbirt on selected evenings to New Year's Eve, and the Spectacle of Light at Sudeley Castle to just before New Year. Broadway's second late-night shopping evening is on a Friday early in December, and the steam railway's Santa Specials run on selected days until just before Christmas, from Toddington only, booked ahead.

On Boxing Day morning the Marshfield Mummers perform their play in the street from 11am, and on New Year's Day Cheltenham Racecourse holds a day of jump racing. Cogges at Witney opens its manor house again for Christmas at Cogges, on the weekends from 5 December and daily from 21 to 23 December in 2026, booked in advance.

What is open and closed in December

Most of the big attractions stay open through December and close only on Christmas Day, some on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as well. Private houses and most gardens are shut until spring. Check opening on the days between Christmas and New Year with each place, since several publish holiday hours late.

Westonbirt opens every day but Christmas Day. Birdland in Bourton closes on 24 and 25 December, and Bourton's Model Village on 25 and 26 December. The Cotswold Wildlife Park and Crocodiles of the World close only on Christmas Day. Broadway Tower closes on 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Dyrham Park opens every day except 24 and 25 December. Hidcote opens in December only on 26 and 27 December, and Lacock Abbey's Great Hall reopens for Christmas, from 28 November to 31 December, at Christmas prices.

Some things stop for the winter at Christmas. The Museum in the Park at Stroud closes for the holiday a few days before Christmas and reopens in late January. The steam railway runs festive steam specials from the day after Boxing Day into the first days of January (27 December to 3 January this winter) and then closes for winter maintenance, so those are its last trains until the spring. Newark Park closes just before Christmas, and the Cotswold Farm Park after the first weekend of January until mid-February. Sezincote is closed from December to February.

Walks for December

December walks are short, on firm ground, and timed to the daylight: start by 10am and finish by 3.30pm. The field paths are muddy and the valley meadows can flood after rain, but a hard frost sets the mud solid, and towns and parks have paths that stay walkable in any weather.

The walk from Winchcombe to Sudeley Castle is an easy 2 miles (3.2km) without stiles, down Vineyard Street and along the castle drive by the lime avenue and the lake, back beside the Isbourne; it pairs with Sudeley's light trail at dusk. The Tetbury town walk is 1.7 miles on paved paths past St Mary's, the Market House and the old railway, with Tetbury's shops for the Christmas list.

The Malmesbury and River Avon walk is an easy 2.5 miles round the hilltop town, along the Avon by the meads and back under the abbey, mostly level with some stiles, and buses reach Malmesbury from Chippenham, Swindon and Cirencester. Our Christmas guide has longer walks for Christmas week.

For a walk in the trees by day, Westonbirt is at its standard winter price after the middle of November, opens from 9am, and its treetop walkway, 300m long on a gentle slope above Silk Wood, suits a wet December morning better than any field path. Dogs go off the lead in Silk Wood.

Where to stay and eat in December

December suits an inn for a short break before Christmas, when prices are low on weekdays, or a cottage for the week after it. Book Christmas and New Year stays by September; the inns with the best fires go first. Weekday nights in the first half of December are the easiest of the winter to find. Our winter weekend in Broadway and the north plans two days by car round the short light.

The Swan at Ascott-under-Wychwood, near Kingham, is a sixteenth-century pub with eleven rooms, all of them dog-friendly at £20 a dog, and parking with self-pay EV charging. The Old Bell beside Malmesbury Abbey has afternoon tea and takes dogs. Our places to stay in Woodstock are a walk from Blenheim's light trail.

For lunch, the Royal Oak at Gretton, near Winchcombe, has log burners and steam trains passing the foot of its garden. Our Christmas guide has the inns for the holiday itself.

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School holidays and bank holidays in December

The school Christmas holidays begin in the week before Christmas and run to the first Monday of January. Gloucestershire's council-run schools (opens in a new tab) broke up on 18 December in 2026, and Oxfordshire's (opens in a new tab) holiday began on 21 December; academies can differ. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are bank holidays (opens in a new tab), and when either falls at a weekend the next weekday is a substitute day; New Year's Day is one too.

The pattern of the month follows. The first three weeks are quiet by day and busy on weekend evenings at the light trails. Christmas week is family visits and full pubs on Christmas Eve. The week between Christmas and New Year is one of the quietest of the year in the famous villages, and the best time of the winter to walk the honeypots without a crowd.

If you only have a day in December

Start with a frosty walk from Winchcombe to Sudeley by 10am, while the sun is low across the park. Drive to Broadway for lunch and the shops, or to Tetbury for its antique shops. Come back to Winchcombe as it gets dark at four, and book the Spectacle of Light at Sudeley for the early evening, or drive south to Westonbirt for its trail, booked for a timed slot in advance.